More About Aurora Menkee, LMT: Spicy Chutney Adventures in Mumbai

As some of you may know, I traveled a lot in my free and adventurous younger years. Fueled by an eagerness to see the world, meet its people, experience their cultural customs, learn how to use profanity in many languages and try out all the foods I could… I found myself in India in 2011.

I traveled solo there, which as blond woman was challenging in its own right, and wow!  The vast differences to our culture were astounding! So many new sounds, smells and so much more crowded; I was loving it!

It certainly helped that I love spicy food.  I LOVE it!  I found myself in the state of Maharashtra, which is where the sprawling city of Mumbai (Bombay), a city completely insane and with roaming tigers to boot!

Well, inland from the city and up in the mountains, where the air is more fresh and very slightly cooler but the fire of the chilies is just as spicy as everywhere else in Maharashtra, I found myself volunteering to paint walls and help out a woman who was creating a women’s shelter. She taught me a simple way to stir-fry cauliflower (cumin heavy with garlic) and I learned how to make my favorite - green coconut chutney!

How to make fresh coconut chutney on the grinding stone in rural India:

1. Cut open fresh coconut. Drink the water down. Dice the coconut flesh into smallish bits.

2. Chop up 1-2 green chilies.

3. Lightly toast cumin seeds, and place these 3 ingredients into a bowl.

4. Carry the ingredients to traditional grinding stone (a large flat stone with a rough finish), preferably outdoors in the heat of the summer sun -for effect.

5. Wash the stone and pestle (cylindrical smashing/grinding instrument, also stone) with water to clean off all the dust that settles on everything, everywhere.

6. Place a small portion of the coconut pieces, chili and cumin on the stone and, using the pestle vertically, smash lightly, taking care to not send bits flying onto the earth.

7. Add a dash of drinking water and, using the pestle horizontally now, roll it away from you, over the pieces to create a mush. This is done with much pressure and finishing with a slight roll of the pestle and the wrist. Once the bits are looking more like a paste, remove it to a clean bowl.

8. Repeat steps 6-7 until all the coconut has been processed and looks more like yummy chutney.

9. Pour clean water over the stone to scrape off all the left-over scraps and put into the chutney bowl. Stir in all the goodness.

10. Wash off the stone and pestle, setting them upright to dry.

11. Add salt to taste and serve within a few hours, or refrigerate (if you have a fridge). Enjoy!

Optional: Whip up some dosas (thin rice and lentil flour crepes) to eat with your chutney.

For our purposes, this can absolutely be made in a vitamix blender or cuisinart, and it might even taste close to the real thing. :). Remember: spice is nice.  Happy cooking!